A passive optical network (PON) is one system for providing network access over the last mile, which is the final portion of a telecommunications network that delivers communication to customers. A PON is a point-to-multipoint (P2MP) network comprised of an optical line terminal (OLT) at a central office (CO), an optical distribution network (ODN), and optical network units (ONUs) at the user premises. PONs may also comprise remote nodes (RNs) located between the OLTs and the ONUs, for instance at the end of a road where multiple customers reside.
In recent years, time-division multiplexing (TDM) PONs such as gigabit PONs (GPONs) and Ethernet PONs (EPONs) have been deployed worldwide for multimedia applications. In TDM PONs, the total capacity is shared among multiple users using a time-division multiple access (TDMA) scheme, so the average bandwidth for each user may be limited to below 100 megabits per second (Mbps).
Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) PONs are considered a very promising solution for future broadband access services. WDM PONs can provide high-speed links with dedicated bandwidth up to 10 gigabits per second (Gb/s). By employing a wavelength-division multiple access (WDMA) scheme, each ONU in a WDM PON is served by a dedicated wavelength channel to communicate with the CO or the OLT.
Next-generation PONs may combine TDMA and WDMA to support higher capacity so that an increased number of users can be served by a single OLT with sufficient bandwidth per user. In such a time- and wavelength-division multiplexing (TWDM) PON, a WDM PON may be overlaid on top of a TDM PON. In other words, different wavelengths may be multiplexed together to share a single feeder fiber, and each wavelength may be shared by multiple users using TDMA.